"A household located in north London is looking for an remarkable and qualified instructor to support their youngest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might easily overlook the wording "first-steps" as just a turn of phrase.
But, it might be the crucial part of this unusual position posting, as it aims to recruit a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of submissions have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
In recent few weeks, the listing has received attention in the media, with many asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is supporting the family in their quest, stated that despite initial skepticism, he found the concept "forward-looking", and "innovative".
When he spoke with the family, he noted they recognized the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how immature their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had waited until their older child was five, and by that age "cultural bias had already become established".
What precisely does the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", Adam answered. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He explained the firstborn had adopted "extremely delicate, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural ways. The family informed Adam they did not want the same situation to happen again with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Subtle Influence
"A lot of the education at the beginning here is rather absorbed naturally," explained Adam.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are expecting the child will pick up the UK customs they want to cultivate.
The consultant noted the tutor had to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – the same kinds of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The educator simply needs to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the chosen tutor should preferably also have familiarity of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, the arts and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
More than that though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a variety of lessons so the child would be "pony-riding and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he comments.
However, in spite of all this guidance in "Britishness", might the child adopt alleged cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", said Adam. "They realize this may not work, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as quickly as we can', because the expense of it is not relevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
Several in the education sector who express these reservations.
Another CEO, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He wrote that he had moved from Asia to the United Kingdom at the period of childhood, and had been raised experiencing and practicing both cultures. He went on to be educated at a prestigious UK institution.
"The concept that one individual can function as a embodiment of UK identity, a person who can in some way impart the characteristics of a English gentleman upon a one-year-old child, seems to me naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, engaging a typically English tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the goal they desire.
"I did not have that kind of mentor, and yet I have been privileged enough to experience several of the situations they hope for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, cultural identity cannot be forced from the outside; it must be chosen, and it must originate internally."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the reality that the international society holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
